1 2 3 4 CHAPTER 18 WORK LIFE BALANCE: CHANGING SCENARIO DURING COVID-19 Dr. Amjad Ali1, Ms. Annu Biswas2 and Ms. Bipasha Chatterjee3 Dr Amjad Ali Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences Adamas University, Kolkata Email: amjad2.ali@adamasuniversity.ac.in Ms. Annu Biswas Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences Adamas University, Kolkata Email: annu1.biswas@adamasuniversity.ac.in Ms. Bipasha Chatterjee Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences Adamas University, Kolkata Email: bipasha.chatterjee@adamasuniversity.ac.in 5 WORK LIFE BALANCE: CHANGING SCENARIO DURING COVID-19 Introduction: In recent years the world labor force has experienced tremendous change as far as its workforce composition and working patterns are concerned. It has progressed along with economic development and transformation of labor legislation. Increased work competition has put pressure on employees to enhance their efficiency and organizations to compete across different sectors. The development of markets kindled by globalization and liberalization are responsible for changes along with technology acting as a catalyst; the velocity of transformation has been more significant in modern times. For People around the world today, the recent COVID-19 outbreak is a symbol of how fragile and unpredictable our lives can be in unusual situations. The virus which has changed the way in which most of us live, work or performs our basic day to day functions is continuing to increase its grasp at an alarming rate with the impact being felt at multiple levels, resulting in economic slowdown, business disruption, trade hindrances, travel obstructions, public isolation etc. On the personal front, the balance of family emphasizes on health, career and friends and everybody is now conscious of personal and surrounding hygiene and the manner of interaction with people. Fig-1: Personal and surrounding hygiene of Work life balance 6 The changes brought about in the life style of people due to the pandemic were;  Global/ National/Local -Lock down  Housework  Health and Hygiene consciousness for building immunity  Social distancing  No domestic help  Responsibility sharing  No external walks, and exercise  Time to do office work  Space for office work  Skill up gradation  Dependence on digital modes for work It would be correct to emphasize that during this lockdown, the scenario at home was quite different from the previous times, as all family members were locked down together inside home. At one hand, if this lockdown gave an opportunity for good family time, at the other hand, it created challenges to manage family responsibilities. Many of the employed individuals could have experienced work-family conflict with the changed scenario at home during lockdown, while working from home. Keeping in mind the scenario generated out of COVID-19, the present chapter is an attempt to highlight the work life balance perspective, challenges and opportunities provided due to the pandemic in current world of work. Conceptual Framework of Work Life Balance: The work-family literature has historically been influenced by Kahn, Quinn, Wolfe, Snoek & Rosenthal's (1964) and they outlined ―Work-Life Balance (WLB) in respect of inter-role conflict where the role pressures from both domains (work and family) are reciprocally incompatible in some respects, i.e., involvement in work domain is made more difficult by virtue of involvement in the family domain‖. Research supporting this perception usually indicates that the amalgamation of work and family domain often demands people to be actively involved in more than one domain (Montgomery, Peeters, Schaufeli & Den Ouden, 2003; Allen, 2001). 7 Basically, conflict between work and family was considered as one-dimensional construct but it is now conceptualized as two-dimensional, that is, work interfering with family and vice-versa (Frone, Russell & Cooper, 1992). However, Greenhaus & Beutell (1985) has ―identified three types of work-family conflict such as conflict based on time, conflict based on stress and behavior-based conflict‖. However, Work Life Balance is a matter of concern for both the organizations and employees. Work Life Balance for every individual is the ‗right‘ amalgamation of participation in professional and personal lives. However, this amalgamation shifts as individuals‘ move through different stages of life as per changing obligations and commitments in work and personal lives. In the current economic situations organizations strive to enhance productivity along with employees‘ work life since improved work life balance will contribute more significantly towards the organizational growth and success (Naithani, 2010). The term "work–life balance" was coined in the United Kingdom in late 1970s to illustrate the balance between an individual's personal and professional life. In the United States, this phrase was first instituted in 1986. Work as well as family represents two most consequential realms of an individuals‘ life and their interface is a matter of consideration among growing number of work and family researcher‘s worldwide. In general, research on the work family balance has been seen as a conflict perspective because it was assumed that work and family are the two separate domains that are mutually incompatible and conflict is seen inevitable (Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 1999; Haas, 1999). A growing body of researchers is accentuating on integrating work and family research to rectify the preconception on the negative outcomes of the work family interface (Lauring & Selmer, 2010). Work Life Balance (WLB) has been defined from various points of view (Poelmans, OdleDusseau & Beham, 2009). Greenhaus, Collins & Shaw (2003) have conceptualized WLB as a multidimensional construct where people experience equivalent amounts of consideration, time, involvement or obligation in work. In the broadest sense, Work Life Balance has been characterized as an acceptable level of contribution or ‗fit‘ between the multiple roles in an individual‘s life (Hudson, 2005). Carlson, Grzywacz & Zivnuska (2009) anticipated and analyzed a significance of Work Life Balance predicated on evenly congregating prospects of both work and family roles. Susi & Jawaharrani (2011) contended that there is no single definition for work- life, subsequently work- life is seen in a wide sense as the capability of an employee to have a well8 balanced time between work and other commitments. According to Tomazevic, Kozjek & Stare (2014) the significance of work family balance is to efficaciously coalesce personal life with professional obligations and engender a harmony between these two important aspects of life. Horie (2016) in her report explained WLB as a work- life design and emphasized on ―balance‖. She described balance as either right or wrong or black or white. In her words ―I recommend people to consider ‗work-life design‘ because it gives you a healthier perspective‖. In the eyes of Clark (2000) Work Life Balance is about experiencing satisfaction and having effective functioning both at work and family domain by avoiding role-conflict. Even distribution of time, energy and commitment across different life domains lead to an experience of satisfaction among all domains, which altogether facilitate the attainment of Work Life Balance (Kirchmeyer, 2000). In earlier days, work life balance was conceptualized as ―the extent to which an individual is equally engaged in and equally satisfied with his or her work role and family role‖ (Greenhaus et al., 2003, p. 513). So, the individuals‘ interpretation of Work Life Balance depends upon their perception about how well different life-roles are balanced in their lives (Russo et al., 2016). But the importance of life roles varies according to the stages of work and family lives. Considering the person centric approach to Work Life Balance, Greenhaus and Allen (2011) have argued that the interpretation of Work Life Balance will vary throughout the life of people, depending upon the career and life stages as well as the variation in their values, goals and aspirations. Literature suggests that Work Life Balance is majorly conceptualized around themes like attentive engagement in multiple roles, managing time and involvement across these roles, attainment of satisfaction across multiple domains and balanced involvement and satisfaction across life domains (Sirgy and Lee, 2018). Theoretical Perspective of Work Life Balance: The theoretical perspective of Work Life Balance describes Work life and family life as two sides of the same coin which have been consistently affected by each other. Boundary theory is a popularly accepted framework which facilitates the understanding of how an individual creates and manages the boundary between work-life and family-life domain, as an effort to simplify and classify the world around them (Allen et al., 2014). It explains the dynamics of transition from one life domain (such as family) to another life domain (such as work). Throughout the day, people cross various physical, temporal and psychological boundaries during the transition from one domain to another (Clark, 2000). Physical boundary corresponds to the place where 9 role-domain behavior occurs, and temporal boundary specifies when role-domain work occurs (Allen et al., 2014). Going to office for work means employee physically enters the office premises and stays in office for the duration during which work is done. Psychological boundaries correspond to the rules developed by people regarding which thinking patterns, behavior patterns and emotions are appropriate for a particular role-domain (Clark, 2000). So, when a person enters an organization, he/she adheres to contextually relevant behaviors as per the requirement of work-domain-related roles. Greer and Payne (2014) have suggested boundary theory as a supportive framework for understanding the unique challenges related to Work Family Management. According to the authors, the traditional boundaries between work and home get changed in the case of Work from home. Due to the proximity to family life, an employee could get distracted by the different demands of the family members while working on some official tasks. During Work from home, individual transitions from work–life to family life and vice-versa throughout the work-day. These frequent transitions between work life and family life demand extra effort to sustain and adhere to the psychological boundaries, particularly when attending work–life balance. Individuals need to mentally prepare themselves for every transition from one psychological role to another (Greer and Payne, 2014), and such frequent transition could make individuals feel exhausted. According to segmentation theory, employees can hold back work-related thoughts, actions and feelings when at home and vice versa when at work, thus enabling employees to maintain a smooth line in relation to family and work. It makes employees more freely organize their lives. However, the segmentation theory is considered to have the weakest empirical support so much so that it is often considered only as a theoretical potential (Bulger, Matthews, & Hoffman, 2007). There are many other proposed theoretical concepts which include positive spillover (Demerouti, Geurts, & Kompier, 2004) enhancement and enrichment (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006) and facilitation (Wayne, Grzywacz, Carlson, & Kacmar, 2007). Spillover theory states that expertise in one role influences expertise in other roles. This theory reveals the degree of the relationship between work and family, both vertically and horizontally and positive or negative (Morris & Madsen, 2007) where negative family experiences are associated with negative work experiences and vice versa, satisfaction and achievement in one area can bring satisfaction and achievement 10 in another and vice versa (Xu, 2009). Young & Kleiner (1992) suggest that what happens at home influences workplace events, skills, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors formed in family roles are transferred to the roles at work and vice versa (Kelly & Voydanoff, 1985). On the other hand Enrichment theory suggests that experience in work roles helps improve the quality-of-life roles and vice versa. Morris & Madsen (2007) suggests that experiences, abilities, skills, values or satisfaction and moods improve the quality of other areas. Facilitation theory explains that opportunities, skills, and experiences make it easy for someone to take part in one area of life to produce good experiences and resources that are useful in other areas of life (Barnett & Hyde, 2001; Frone, 2003). This is called work-life facilitation which is two-way in nature because it involves facilitating families to work and vice versa (Rincy & Panchanatham, 2013). According Hudson (2005) work life balance includes several factors such as (a) Time balance which is the amount of time given to work and roles outside of work. This signifies time needed to carry out tasks in the organization and its role in the individual's life. For example an employee, in addition to work, also needs time for recreation, hanging out with friends and, also providing time for family. (b) Involvement balance is concerned about psychological level of involvement or commitment in and outside of work that creates a balance in individuals with stress levels in work and in their personal life. (c) Satisfaction balance is the level of satisfaction both on and off the job. Perceived satisfaction represents the individual as having comfort in being involved in his work and the individual‘s life. Work-Life Interface: Challenges associated with conflicts between work and life roles are typical in contemporary societies and impact every employee irrespective of social and economic status, individual demographics, or family structure (Frone, 2003; McMillan et al., 2011). Many employees struggle in finding a healthy balance between personal life and work life, although this is a priority for them (Milkie et al., 2010). Additionally, the stress caused by work-life conflicts affect the general well-being of employees (Davis, 2020; Grzywacz & Carlson, 2007) and damages the individual job performance (Pitt-Catsouphes et al., 2007). The concept between work-life relationships therefore, has been of great interest in the literature, aiming for approaches to reach a level of compatibility between them (Ong & Jeyaraj, 2014). 11 Work-life interface includes ―any relationships between dimensions of the person's work life and the person's personal life‖ (Griffin & Moorhead, 2010, p. 182). This is a dynamic and complex concept that involves a cross-domain effect, including cognitive, affective, social, and behavioral dimensions (Morris, 2009), and happens when experiences and decisions in one domain can influence outcomes on the other domain (Friedman & Greenhaus, 2000). The constructs work-life conflict, work-life balance, work-life enrichment, and work-life harmony expand and shape the understanding of the work-life interface (McMillan et al., 2011). This idea of interference between roles means that the challenges and pressures from one domain are, in a certain way, not compatible with the other. Thus, the interference between roles happens because the responsibilities from work and home are competing for resources, which are limited such as physical energy, psychological resources and time (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). Additionally, greater clarity is needed in the understanding of these work-life approaches for human resource professionals who attempt to develop effective work-life interventions (McMillan et al., 2011; Ong & Jeyaraj, 2014). As the interface between work and life incorporates the social, affective and behavioral dimensions of an individual (Morris, 2009), a lack of work-life balance or work-life harmony can create conflict in an individual's behaviors and emotions, which consequently may promote cognitive dissonance, emotional dissonance, and burnout (Owens & Kottwitz, 2018). With the abundance of definitions, the positive aspect of work-family interface is still in the process of development (Canlas, 2016). Table-1 summarizes the main concepts from work-life conflict, work-life balance, work-life enrichment, and work-life harmony considered in this chapter. Table-1: Work-life interface: Dimensions and concepts. Dimension Work Life Conflict Concept ―a form of inter-role conflict in which the role Greenhaus pressures from the work and family domains are Beutell (1985) Balance and mutually incompatible in some respect‖ ―satisfaction and good functioning at work and at Work Life Authors Clark (2000) home with a minimum of role conflict‖ ―the extent to which an individual is equally 12 Greenhaus et engaged and satisfied with his or her work role al.(2003) and family role‖ ―lack of conflict or interference between the Frone (2003) work and family roles‖ Work Life ―the extent to which experiences in one role Greenhaus Enrichment improve the quality of life in the other role‖ Powell (2006) ―the ability of individuals, regardless of age or Hughes gender, to find rhythm that will allow them to Bozionelos combine their work with their non-work (2007) Work Life Harmony and and responsibilities, activities, and aspirations‖ ―an individually pleasing, congruent arrangement McMillan of work and life roles that is interwoven into a al.(2011) single narrative of life‖ et Work-life balance interface during COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic changed each person's reality overnight. Countries, economies, and whole continents have come across the fear of the unknown and the shock of the lockdown. It began as a public health crisis, but it rapidly moved into a significant global economic challenge, reaching nearly every layer of organizations, and their employees (EY, 2020). A survey from Gartner revealed that 88% of organizations encouraged or required their employees to work from home due to the corona virus (Gartner, 2020). Human resource managers had to take many decisions in a very short period, such as how to best communicate the companies' priorities, and how and which employees would work away from the offices. Many people are doing remote work, also termed home working and tele-working (Anderson & Kelliher, 2020) during the pandemic, resulting in changing global work experiences which are associated with personal demands such as stress, identity transformation; non-work/private demands like work-family conflict, family adjustment in the foreign country, maintenance of friendships, work-life balance, and work demands which included career transition concerns, structural and perceptual barriers (van Oudenhoven-van der Zee et al., 2005). 13 The measured impact of the pandemic on family well-being is presently unknown, but according to Prime et al. (2020), there has been a dramatic shift in the routines of family life during the COVID-19 pandemic on a magnitude likely not seen since World War II. When work-life balance policies are discussed at workplaces, even in dual-career families, employers talk about women's access to flexible working arrangements in order to accommodate childcare needs, revealing the gendered nature of this concept (Sorensen, 2017; Utoft, 2020). COVID-19 lockdown presented new characteristics to the patriarchal pandemic situation and began to change the mental model in a direction where both women and men tend to perform the same tasks and now housework is less gendered (Featherstone, 2020). Del Bocaet al. (2020) surveyed a representative sample of Italian women, to analyze the effect of COVID-19 on the working arrangements and time devoted to childcare, and highlighted the advantages of working from home, which may generate a better sharing of family work within the couple and the importance that couples take the opportunity of the crisis to share the burden of childcare more equally. Carnevale and Hatak (2020) anticipate that employees should adapt to this new work environment and highlighted some human resource management challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, for employee adjustment and well-being, to achieve erosion of personenvironment fit and to resolve potential misfit. In a survey with 2772 Australian households, Craig and Churchill (2020) showed that before COVID-19, mothers averaged 3.41 daily hours in active care of children compared to 2.21 daily hours for fathers. This difference decreased to 40% during COVID-19 because fathers' hours went up by 64% (to 3.64 hours per day) whereas mothers' went up by 50% (to 5.13 hours per day). The findings confirmed that enforced restrictions during COVID-19 were associated with increase in fathers' time with children and somewhat benefitted work-life interface. A research to measure working parents' perceptions of support from their partners and their employers and how well they were balancing work with family at home in Singapore, concluded that lockdown could be detrimental to parenting and marital harmony, especially for parents with poor work-life interface and weak social support (Chung et al., 2020) confirming family support issues which have been recognized for many years as crucial to assignment success. 14 Work Life Balance Challenges during COVID-19: COVID-19 has altered what a good work-life balance looks like. Parents have to take care of their children as schools and daycares have closed or moved online. Employees are now working from home, making it even more challenging to separate work life from home life. Kitchen tables have turned into workspaces, and Zoom calls can be interrupted by pets, deliveries, and frequent visits from family members. Work-life balance has never been more challenging. What‘s worse in this pandemic is it is uncertain when things will return to ―normal.‖ Employees, parents, families, educators, and business owners are tasked with redefining the balance between work and their personal life. Because many workplaces were already shifting to remote work, it‘s likely that some changes will be permanent. New communication technologies will continue to be used for convenience, and businesses are discovering new ways to increase flexibility for their staff and save money with remote work environments. Many people are dealing not only with the aforementioned challenges but also illness, loss of friends and family members to the corona virus or new responsibilities to care for loved ones. Mental health is often at the forefront of conversations surrounding the pandemic. People are going through rapid, drastic changes that can be anxiety inducing and stressful. Fig-2: Work Life Balance Challenges during COVID-19 15 Surveys from around the world are surfacing an unhappy trend; for instance, even as people save time on their commute, they are putting it right back into their work. Depending on where employees are located in the world, their working days might be anything from one to four hours longer as they spend additional time in meetings and check-ins, attempt to prove their productivity, or simply lose track of time because the working hours no longer have clear boundaries. Some business leaders are becoming actively worried about the impact on employees. For instance, Adam Reynolds, the APAC CEO of Saxo Markets told people matters that some of his employees have been working over weekends and late into the night, and burnout is starting to become a concern. In normal conditions, work-life balance is a benefit of working from home; however during a pandemic it becomes a challenge to balance it. During work from home, coordination between work and family demands is a challenging task for every worker. The presence of all family members at home during working hours; and children who attend school; have to be assisted by their parents with office jobs, adding to the burden on workers. Managing Work Life Balance during COVID-19: Despite the challenges, it‘s possible to stay healthy and positive. Research has revealed that working from home provides the many benefits such as a balance between work and family life; reduce travel time to work and fuel saving; can control the work schedule and work atmosphere; can choose to work when the mood is good; encourage employee morale; reduce laziness and absence; reduce worker turnover; and strengthen the company‘s image as a family-friendly workplace (Mungkasa, 2020). It is true that there are certainly benefits to working from home but the transition can be difficult and finding balance within one‘s life can become more complicated. If COVID-19 has left one feeling burnt out, overworked, and stressed, here are some ways one can manage work and personal life to create a better work-life balance during and beyond COVID-19. Managing Expectations: Although some might interpret the remote work setting as a chance to buckle down and use free time for maximum productivity, others might feel overwhelmed by the number of changes in such a short period of time. When it comes to creating balance, Jefferson Center clinician Angela Quinn says that one of the first things one needs to do is manage 16 expectations and give oneself understanding and forgiveness. Approaching new working environment and ability to be productive with a little extra grace and patience will help one navigate the transition more smoothly. Creating a Dedicated Workspace: At work, one has a dedicated workspace, whether that‘s a cubicle, an office or a co-working area. They know where their tools are and they have all the equipment and devices needed to complete their daily tasks. However, when the company suddenly switches to remote working, they might not have those same tools, the same private space, or even a desk to work at. Creating a designated workspace is essential to creating balance and making a clear divide between work hours and free time. This might mean claiming a portion of the kitchen table or a specific room in the house. Wherever one decides to set up the work area, it makes sure other people living with them know it is their ―office‖, so they can create healthy boundaries. Taking Regular Breaks: In a normal workday, one would have probably stopped to chat with a coworker in the hallway, get up to refill their coffee or tea, and left the office for a lunch meeting. But when they are working from home, it can be more difficult to find those break times, especially if they are feeling extra pressure to perform and ―show worth‖ to the employers. In fact, one study found that the average working day has increased by three hours in the U.S. since mid-March 2021. One should be sure to schedule regular breaks throughout the day and hold themselves accountable to those rest times by putting them in the calendar. Eating lunch with a family member or going on a walk are great ways to spend some mental time away from work. By regularly removing oneself from the work environment for 10 or 15 minutes, they can feel refreshed and ready to be productive when they get back to the computer instead of exhausted and unable to focus. Establishing Transition Times: When employees physically go to work, they tend to have a routine that they follow that has many visual and physical cues. For example, when one wakes up, one probably get ready for the day by getting dressed, eating breakfast, and gathering things to begin the commute. At the end of the day, they might clear out their email inbox, say goodbye to coworkers, and settle into the commute back home. For people that are working remotely, these transition times are lost, which means it can be easy to have work seep into home life. 17 One can create cues for themselves to know when it‘s time to begin working and when it‘s time to stop working. For some people, mimicking a commute might be helpful. For instance, if one is used to driving to work, they can consider taking a brief walk around the block each morning to help themselves set their intentions for the workday and another walk in the evening to help clear their mind. Additionally, turning off the computer can be an easy way to create boundaries between work time and home time since they will be less likely to send just one more email. Structure a Routine: a structured routine and schedule can help in feeling a sense of control in life. When work routines are significantly altered, one can feel like they don‘t know where to begin or how to be productive during the workday. Creating a new schedule can be beneficial to regain that sense of control, but one should approach the schedule with some flexibility. Whether one is living with roommates, alone, or taking care of children at home, establishing a routine that works best for the situation will be a key. One needs to just remember that not every day will go according to plan and that‘s completely normal. Communicating one’s Needs: One of the best ways to weather a rough transition is to be open and honest about one‘s needs. Over communication is essential, especially during a time of social distancing and increased isolation. Employers won‘t be able to see if employees are having a hard time managing tasks and family might not know they are working on an important project if they don‘t tell them. One has to be upfront with their family members by telling them what they have been going through and being respectful of their responsibilities. This applies to the professional relationships as well. If an employee feels overwhelmed by the workload or they are struggling to make connections in a remote setting, they must talk to their manager and look for solutions together. Proactive communication can help prevent messy situations and frustration down the road. To be Kind to Oneself: Recognizing and acknowledging the complexity of the situation is a key element in creating a work-life balance. It is important to carving out time for oneself as a way to prevent burnout, especially when one start saying things like ―I don‘t have time for self-care‖ or ―I don‘t have time to worry about myself.‖ Consistency and keeping commitments to oneself is a key to maintaining the mental health during this time. If one finds oneself often forgoing selfcare or moments of pause, they should enlist the help of others to hold themselves accountable. 18 If one finds that they are still having difficulties making adjustments or their mood has dropped significantly, monitoring their emotions and physical responses throughout the day can be a good way to determine when they might need professional help. Finding New Ways to Exercise: While it‘s still generally okay to go out for a run or bike ride, one may want to keep some things indoors, especially as the months turn colder. One can invest in a yoga mat for home workouts, or search for cardio-heavy workout videos on YouTube. There are easy stretches and exercises one can do in a short amount of time that will help them stay healthy and keep themselves moving, which can be a major challenge when they work inside all day. Setting Strict Boundaries at Home: Because it‘s harder than ever to separate home and work life, one can come up with boundaries and stick to them. For example, one can refrain from eating lunch or dinner where they work, or make it clear to family members that they are not available during their working hours for chores or errands. To Stay Social: to combat the challenge of maintaining social outlets, one can suggest to the coworkers that they can get together for a Zoom happy hour on Fridays. One can schedule weekend virtual hangouts with friends and other family members, or schedule an outdoor, socially distanced coffee if that is within their comfort zone. One can opt to talk to people on the phone instead of texting. These small steps will help maintain a somewhat ―normal‖ social life. Knowing When to Unplug: One can stop when the workday is over and force themselves to disconnect. One must refrain from checking emails from the couch or try to get a head start on work for the next day. It‘s important to take breaks from work and do things one enjoys. Turning off the computer or cell phone notifications for a while is a good idea, so one won‘t be tempted to respond. Finding outlets for laughter: Maintaining sanity requires a bit of levity. After work is over, one can watch something funny or enjoy a fun read. One can opt to play with their kids or pets for a while. One must engage in finding their inner child so they can truly smile, laugh and enjoy themselves. These opportunities are even more important if one is constantly reading negative news reports or is sitting at the computer. Focus on mental health: These tips lead to the final point: focusing on mental health. While exercising, setting boundaries, and laughing will help one de-stress, remembering that it‘s 19 normal to feel overwhelmed, anxious or depressed is the key. One must consider talking to a professional therapist on the phone or in a video conference. Talking things out with someone other than one‘s cat or partner will help one gain perspective and recognize how they can keep improving. Conclusion: In conclusion, this chapter demonstrates the changing scenario of work life balance during COVID-19. It has been observed throughout the available literature that many scholars have demonstrated how work-life conflict can be detrimental for health and wellbeing during this crisis. However, the fact is that work-life conflict decreased for many individuals during such a short period of time, likely had implications for overall work life balance. The COVID-19 pandemic, for which no one was prepared, produced massive uncertainty that is affecting many people around the world (WHO, 2020), and brought along significant strategic human talent concerns (Deloitte, 2020; EY, 2020), which are still ongoing. Much is unknown, and the ultimate effects are unlikely to be seen for some time. The health risks of the pandemic has begun to decrease in some locations and the vaccine has started affecting the situation towards betterment, but it remains unclear how long the crisis will last, and what its eventual impact will be. The novel ways of working remotely and the fears around the global recession will continue to cause a state of uncertainty. However, research make it evident that the once desired, highly favorable, work from home has not proved to be one of the best options for majority of workforce. Interests in work from home remain but not in its current form. Better guidelines and policies from the government should be in place to properly regulate and make work from home feasible. Proper training is required if this practice is to be a feasible option or the new normal. Possibly the working balance will be visible post-pandemic when work from home is not a forced mandate, rather a flexible option. Finally, employer and management should pay attention to the factors that influence work life balance so as to minimize the factors that have a negative effect on work life balance. The recommendation for further research is to include other variables that can influence work life balance. 20 References Allen, T.D. (2001). Family-Supportive Work Environments : The Role of Organizational Perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 414–435. Allen, T.D., Cho, E. and Meier, L.L. (2014), ―Work–family boundary dynamics‖, Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1(1), 99-121. Anderson, D., & Kelliher, C. (2020). 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